How to Find the Mode

Home > Pre-Algebra > Central Tendency > How to Find the Mode

Introduction

The mode of a set of numbers is the value which appears most often in the set.

Terms

Mode - The mode is the number which appears most frequently.

Lesson

To find the mode of a set of numbers, simply determine which number appears most frequently. Of course, there may be two or more numbers which appear the same amount of times. In that case, both numbers are the mode.

For example, the mode of the set of numbers ${1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 3, 4, 4}$ is 4, since it appears four times.

The mode of the set of numbers ${1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 4, 5, 1, 5}$ is the numbers 1 and 5, since they both appear three times.

Examples

Find the Mode (Example #1)

2, 3, 4, 1, 1, 5, 2, 1

Right now the numbers are out of order, so it is difficult to tell which number appears most often. So first put the numbers in order:

1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4\text{ and }5

The number that appears most often is 1, so 1 is the mode of the set

Find The Mean (Example #2)

Brooklyn received her report card today. she received a 81 in physical education, a 69 in english, a 60 in math, a 74 in speech, and a 74 in art. What is the mode of Brooklyn's grades?

The mode is the number that appears most often in a set of numbers. There is no formula to determine the mode of a list; you just have to find by hand which number appears most often.

Suppose we want to find the mode of this data set:

81, 69, 60, 74\text{ and }74

Right now the numbers are out of order, so it is difficult to tell which number appears most often. So first put the numbers in order:

60, 69, 74, 74\text{ and }81

60 appears once in the list

69 appears once in the list

74 appears twice in the list

81 appears once in the list

The number that appears most often is 74, so 74 is the mode of the set

Find the Mode (Example #3)

9, 4, 8, 9, 4, 8, 9, 8

Right now the numbers are out of order, so it is difficult to tell which number appears most often. So first put the numbers in order:

4, 4, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9\text{ and }9

The number that appears most often are

8\text{ and }9

. Since there is a tie, we say that the list has

2

modes:

8\text{ and }9